72 BRITISH SEA BIRDS. 



brownish-buff in ground colour, blotched, spotted, 

 and streaked with blackish-brown and gray. Two 

 distinct types are noticeable : one in which the 

 markings are streaky, and often form a zone ; 

 the other in which they are large, irregular, and 

 distributed over most of the surface. As soon 

 as the nest is approached the ever-watchful birds 

 rise screaming into the air, and should many pairs 

 be breeding in company, the din soon becomes 

 general and deafening. It is under these circum- 

 stances alone that the Oyster-catcher permits man 

 to approach it closely ; at all other times it is 

 certainly one of the shyest and wariest of birds 

 on the coast. 



RINGED PLOVER. 



With the present species or resident large race, 

 the slEgialitis hiaticula major of Tristram, as we 

 should more correctly describe it we reach the 

 true Plovers. The Ringed Plover is one of 

 the most widely distributed of our coast birds, 

 frequenting all the flat sandy shores of the British 

 Islands, from the Shetlands, in the north, to the 

 Channel Islands, in the south. And not only does 

 it haunt the coast, but it is found on the banks 

 of rivers and lochs in many inland districts. In 

 many places this species is known as the " Ring 

 Dotterel " ; in others its local name is the " Sand 

 Lark." The favourite haunts of the Ringed 

 Plover are the sandy portions of the beach; but 

 in autumn and winter this bird frequently visits 



